1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable, insulated, carrying devices useful for storing, conveying and serving food and beverages, and specifically to a soft-sided cooler assembly which has an insertable rigid frame rack with compartments that hold slide-in individual meal containers, beverage containers, ice packs, and with an internal air circulation system, zippered side access openings, and a condensation collection basin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While one purpose of storing food and beverages in a cooler is to keep them cool, another equally important and related purpose is to preserve the food and beverages during their storage. In an effort to preserve a cooler's contents, it is generally preferable that the contents leave the cooler in almost as good a condition as that in which they were when they entered the cooler. A lack of sufficient and consistent cooling, excessive movement, excessive pressure and excessive moisture are, for example, four conditions that may damage the contents of a cooler, possibly making the contents completely undesirable. In this context, pressure refers to the force of one cooler item, such as a bottle, against another, such as a sandwich.
The prior art patents have not adequately addressed the problems relating to preserving the condition of the food in the cooler.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,202, issued Mar. 21, 2000 to Olstad, puts forth a cooler insert system that includes an open-sided, main frame structure including an end wall and two opposed side walls, the end wall and the two opposed side walls each having an opening formed therethrough, the two opposed side walls having three pairs of divider screen guide channels; a snap fit, hinged frame panel that is simultaneously snap fittable to an end of each of the two opposed sidewalls of the frame structure to form an open topped box with the main frame structure; three divider screens, each divider screen being insertable into one pair of the three pairs of divider screen guide channels of the main frame structure to divide the interior of the main frame structure into compartments; and a number of stackable trays that are positionable within a compartment formed by one of the divider screens, each stackable tray having a holding cavity defined therein that is accessible through an access opening and a lower registration protrusion extending from the bottom thereof; the registration protrusion being sized and shaped to sealing fit into the access opening of a holding cavity of another tray member and to seal the access opening into the holding cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,338, issued Mar. 26, 1996 to Preston, provides a food carrier that comprises a plurality of stacked, interchangeable rigid food tray assemblies, at least one of the tray assemblies having a plurality of compartments formed therein. A strap secures the stacked food tray assemblies to each other. The strap comprises a handle for carrying the food carrier. A thermally insulative cover is provided for the outside of the food tray assemblies for stabilizing the temperature of any food contained therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,571, issued Dec. 1, 1998 to Rausch, describes a compartmentalized soft-sided container that includes a beverage compartment disposed in front of a warm compartment and a cool compartment. A pair of removable insulating interior walls are attachable to the interior of the container to divide the container into the individual compartments. The beverage compartment includes an adjustable closure that is capable of tightly securing differently-sized beverage containers by providing a flexible sheet having a drawstring that allows the height and opening of the closure to be adjusted. The drawstring may also be used to cinch about the neck of a beverage container to securely hold it in container. The container is also tapered such that compartments snugly retain articles such as soup bowls to prevent spilling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,276, issued Aug. 29, 1995 to Gordon, concerns a removable food container attachment for lunch pails and small coolers, which includes a sling member formed of flexible material having a bottom wall and opposed end portions and side portions extending upwardly therefrom to define a generally rectangular compartment which receives one or more bowl-shaped food containers each having an air tight lid. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom and sides of the compartment are of double wall construction and filled with thermally insulating material. A flexible insulating cover removably received on the top of the covered food container encloses the top end of the sling compartment. The sling compartment with the insulating cover installed is placed on the bottom of a conventional lunch pail or small cooler. A flexible strap connected to one side portion extends over the top of the pail or cooler and a releasable fastener connected with the strap and with the other side portion releasably secures the sling onto the pail or cooler and the assembly is conveniently carried as a single unit. One or more small pockets may be provided on the exterior of the sling for holding eating utensils and other items. Conventional covered food containers, microwaveable dishes, or one or more conventional frozen dinner packages may be carried in the sling compartment. Wholesome plate lunches prepared in advance may be placed in containers, stored in an refrigerator or freezer, transported in the attachment, and when desired, microwaved for consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,184,336, issued Dec. 16, 1939 to Devine, provides a thermally insulated lunch box with an outer casing and an inner casing. The inner casing is adapted to receive a plurality of nested food tanks.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,147,886, issued Feb. 21, 1939 to Devine, shows a lunch box that comprises an outer casing, an inner casing thermally insulated from the outer casing and a plurality of superposed food tanks, which are disposed within and held in a spaced relation to the inner casing and thermally insulated therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,623,656, issued Dec. 30, 1952 to Rottau, illustrates a picnic server that comprises a plurality of food containers that are in a stacked arrangement, so that the bottom of one container provides that cover for the container below it. A lid is provided for the top container. The food containers are firmly secured together by a series of yokes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,604, issued Jul. 22, 2003 to Peterson, provides a tray support system for a bag, which has an internal compartment with an access opening in the front wall. The tray support system includes a pair of opposing tray support brackets attached to opposing vertical side walls of the internal compartment. Each of the pair of brackets has a plurality of ledges that are horizontally aligned to form complementary ledges that receive and support the outer edges of a tray. The tray support brackets may be releasably attached directly to the side walls of the compartment, or attached to rigid inserts which are in turn attached to the side walls. When the trays are not in use, the space in the compartment is substantially unobstructed and can be used to store various items. Also, the brackets and inserts are easily and conveniently removably so that the bag may be folded for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,870,904, issued Jan. 27, 1959 to Tarbox, puts forth a metal physician's bag with a plurality of trays that may be selectively withdrawn from the case. The trays may be removed for sterilization purposes. The physician may keep pre-sterilized trays in his car and restock his bag at any time.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,434, issued Sep. 2, 2003 to Redzisz, shows a sport tackle box bag for carrying multiple rectangular parallelepiped generally rigid tackle storage boxes. The box bag includes a lower section having a front flap for access to the lower section and an upper section having a top flap for access to the top section.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,537, issued May. 20, 1997 to Sciacca, is for a compartmentalized box and a knapsack incorporating the same. The knapsack has straps allowing carrying of the compartmentalized box on a person's back. The compartmentalized box has columns formed of a plurality of panels for supporting a plurality of containers and for allowing the containers to be slid in and out of the compartmentalized box. Edgewise adjacent ones of the panels can be disconnected from each other and the panels rearranged to allow containers of differing sizes to be slid into the compartmentalized box so that the knapsack can be readily restocked with any desired arrangement of the containers.
U.S. Patent Application 20020084206, published Jul. 4, 2002 by Protopapas, depicts a lunch box that comprises a plurality of stackable, interchangeable food tray assemblies that have compartments in them for the storage of foodstuffs and other items. These stackable, interchangeable food tray assemblies are housed in an enclosure with a lid to protect the contents and a handle to provide ease of transport by the user. The lunch box can be made in a variety of sizes to accommodate the needs of the user and to fit within various size refrigerators. The lunch box can include locking features to hinder unauthorized access to the contents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,095, issued Apr. 4, 1995 to Melk, claims a flexible cooler with a removable insert, which is a thermally insulating carrier for preventing temperature change of heated or cooled items placed therein. The carrier includes a flexible bag-like container having a compartment therein and a generally rigid hollow tub-like liner member which is removably disposed in the compartment. The flexible container includes a side wall portion, a base portion, and a displaceable cover. At least the side wall portion and cover are constructed incorporating a flexible insulating material for providing an insulating effect. The side wall portion is joined with the base portion and together with the cover define the compartment. A container aperture is defined by a top edge of the side wall portion. A closing device is attached to the container aperture and a perimeter of the cover for releasably retaining the cover over the container aperture. The hollow liner is integrally formed of a rigid, waterproof, and shatterproof material with side portions joined to a bottom portion. A mouth is formed around the top of the liner and is coincident with the container aperture. The liner improves the thermal characteristics, provides structural support for the flexible container, and prevents leakage of moisture from the flexible container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,900, issued Jun. 8, 1993 to Jones, discloses a soft-sided cooler that has a pivotably fastenable lid and a soft-sided coolant pack dimensioned to fit snugly within the underside region of the lid. The underside region is defined by a plurality of generally opposing, inwardly facing sidewalls that extend downward towards the cooler body for fastening thereto when the lid is closed. The cooling pack comprises a matrix of coolant cells integrally formed within a compliant plastic sheet, and inserted within a fabric envelope. The envelope, in turn, bears Velcro™ fastening material which releasably retain the envelope within the underside of the lid by mating with Velcro™ surfaces on at least a generally opposing pair of the sidewalls.
It is desirable to have a cooler assembly that improves the management of the cooler's contents by managing the cooling, movement, pressure and/or moisture within the cooler. The contents of a cooler may sustain less degradation during storage in the cooler if the cooler assembly incorporates improved content management. Insofar the content of a cooler generally includes, for example, food, beverages, and coolants, a desirable cooler assembly would store the food, beverages, and coolants in a manner that would improve cooling, reduce movement, relieve pressure and/or isolate moisture within the cooler.
What is needed is a soft-shell insulated cooler having an insertable frame rack with compartments that hold slide-in individual meal containers, beverage containers, and ice packs, and with an internal air circulation system and a condensation collection basin with the ability to separate and carry individual meal container trays and beverage containers for people who need to eat frequently, such as weight lifters, diabetics and patients having had stomach surgery or to provide separate meals for a family outing.